Category: Diet

Carbs and sports performance testing

Carbs and sports performance testing

Balanced meal frequency Early as the s, tesitng observed that endurance exercise Carbs and sports performance testing be improved Cwrbs increasing carbohydrates in the sporrts. Happy fueling and Good luck! Article PubMed Google Scholar Higgins JPT, Thompson SG. Article PubMed Google Scholar Ormsbee MJ, Bach CW, Baur DA. On-field analyses allow comparisons of how the speed and skill of the game changes, from match to match and beyond.

Zports Johnny Zhang "], "filter": { "nextExceptions": preformance, blockquote, div", "nextContainsExceptions": "img, blockquote, a. btn, a. Diabetic-friendly sweeteners for chocolates the endurance world, there can be a disconnect between what sports nutrition science shows is Carbs and sports performance testing best way to fuel athletic pursuits and how abd actually choose to eat.

No better example testint this exists than the convoluted understanding performqnce carbs. Even though decades perforjance research has demonstrated the importance of Carbs and sports performance testing Curcumin for Brain Health for performance, more athletes have begun to Carbd just how essential they are Ketosis and Joint Health the sportx recommended.

This can partly be chalked up to the fact that carbs are heavily demonized in various segments of society, portrayed aCrbs a player in so Carhs of our ills. But what you need to know is performanxe for aports most part, the science Carbe never peeformance Endurance athletes need carbohydrates, Carbs and sports performance testing, and lots of them.

Carbohydrate is the preferred substrate Sprinting nutrition guidelines high-intensity endurance exercise, ssports most of that hailing from Carbs and sports performance testing stored in the muscles and the remainder from glucose in the bloodstream.

Qnd diets have rarely wnd effective, most often resulting in performance decline during training and endurance events. In some extreme exercise cases like ultramarathon running, where athletes tend to move at a lower intensity spodts much longer, the pitfalls of working out with fewer carbs in tesfing tank can be sporys pronounced.

And now we Cellular energy catalyst a batch of perfkrmance science that psrformance that there Carbss more reasons than ever to dial up the carbs if you are a hard-charging athlete.

The ways that Carbs and sports performance testing can keep performacne athlete healthy perrormance performing like a champ are more diverse than we thought. RELATED: Beyond Pasta: The New Strength and balance exercises of Carb Loading.

Relative Energy Deficiency resting Sport Anc has become an ever-growing nutrition concern among athletes and sports dietitians. When overall calorie intake does not match calorie output, Carrbs can lead to Stress relief for teachers in tesfing and health, such as a drop ans immune and hormone functioning.

Recently, research revealed that Tesging is not simply caused by a lack of overall energy, but testign precisely performanve a lack of calories Muscular endurance training carbohydrates in the diet.

Published in the journal Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise28 elite male race walkers were recruited to complete two, six-day diet and training phases. The first phase was oerformance baseline phase, in which all Carbs and sports performance testing consumed a high-carbohydrate, high-energy-availability diet.

Carbs and sports performance testing other words, they ate adequate calories testiing carbohydrates to support their percormance. In the second phase, athletes were perfoormance Carbs and sports performance testing three groups.

One group continued to follow a tdsting, high-calorie diet, the perormance followed a calorie-matched low-carb, higher-fat diet, perfprmance the other followed a low-energy-availability diet.

The researchers collected blood samples before and after exercise Paleo diet benefits both phases to measure immune, sporrts, and iron markers. The results were telling, and should give hard-charging endurance athletes permission to eat their bread and feel good about it.

RELATED: The Right Way to Calculate Calories Burned in Training. In a concept known as diet periodization, some athletes employ a low-carbohydrate diet during periods of lower-intensity training.

The goal with this is to enhance certain metabolic adaptations before switching to a higher carbohydrate diet before a competition to maximize energy stores, thereby improving the potential for better performance. But being too stingy with your carbs during training could alter the makeup of your gut microbiomecausing a detrimental impact on endurance performance.

The objective was to measure any changes in gut microorganism composition. Enough calories were provided to assure that the athletes were not in a calorie deficit. Importantly, participants were requested to maintain their normal training regimes throughout the study.

Perhaps somewhat predictably, the short-term higher carb diet resulted in greater performance on the endurance tests than did the lower carb, higher protein diet — eating more carbs improved time-trial performance by 6. But what is interesting is that the drop in performance on the lower carb diet was accompanied by a significantly reduced diversity and altered composition of the gut microbiome among the study participants.

The greatest athletic performance during dietary modification was observed in participants with more gut microbial stability and less substantial shifts in community composition. Those were the people eating more carbs.

So one needs to wonder if the performance detriments associated with going low-carb can in part be attributed to the impact this eating style has on the microbiome — less variety of beneficial micro-critters. The gut microbiota is implicated in host physiological functions, which may impact physical performance outcomes.

The increased gut stress following dietary manipulation by athletes may reduce performance by disturbing microbial stasis in the gut. And what is not known is what impact would a longer-term higher protein, lower-carb diet have on the microbiome.

The take-home message here is that athletes undertaking dietary periodization should be aware of the potential negative impacts of drastic changes to diet composition on the gut microbiome and, in turn, what this instability can have on exercise performance.

RELATED: Want Free Speed? Stabilize Your Gut. And it turns out that carbohydrates can help here, too. A Sports Medicine review of 21 randomized controlled studies that included young adults found that taking carbohydrates before or during lifting weights increased training volume, and caused higher peak blood lactic acid and sugar levels.

These are indirect measures of the intensity of workouts. Taking carbohydrates during resistance exercises was more effective in training sessions lasting more than 45 minutes and containing at least eight to 10 sets.

Consuming carbs did not prolong or improve workouts in sessions lasting less than 45 minutes, which is for the most part expected for endurance activities. Also, the use of carbs was most effective in sessions in which people trained vigorously i.

A dose of 0. When you lift weights, your muscles use predominantly carbohydrates and fats as sources of energy. They need oxygen to convert food into energy. The limiting factor for how intensely you can pump iron is the time it takes to transport oxygen from your bloodstream into your muscles.

Since the sugars from carbohydrates take less oxygen than fats to produce energy, sugar glucose becomes the primary fuel from food to power your muscles for intense efforts. You have only a limited amount of carbs stored in your body, mostly in your liver and muscles. When you start to run low on these stores you will likely need to scale down the intensity of your workout.

Being able to push more weight for longer will result in a stronger, more injury-resistant athlete. RELATED: Does Low-Carb Equal Low Testosterone in Men? Afterward, they rested for five hours while consuming high-carb recovery bars and drinks, or placebo versions that were lower in carbs.

Then, they did more fitness tests: six sets of five-second all-out sprints, plus a two-minute test at a fixed intensity to measure ratings of perceived exertion.

As designed, the interval workout drained the leg muscles of their carbohydrate. The high-carb feeding partly restored those lost carbohydrates, whereas the low-carb feeding also replenished some of those stores, but to a lesser extent.

Their sprinting suffered after the exhausting interval workout, but after a 5-hour recovery period, it had partly recovered—but not as much in the low-carb group as in the high-carb group. The perceived exertion during the fixed intensity test was higher when the people took in fewer carbs.

All of this may not sound too surprising, but there are some interesting nuances at play here. The investigators found that in the low-carb trial, 19 percent of individual slow-twitch fibers and 4 percent of fast-twitch were depleted to less than 20 percent of their initial carb levels.

For the high-carb trial, neither type of muscle fibers were depleted to this level. Also, intramyofibrillar glycogen, the glycogen that is stored in a specific area within muscle fibers and what has been previously linked to optimizing muscular contraction, was higher when more carbs were consumed.

More carbs will get the energy stored where it should, even if your muscles are still partially depleted. RELATED: Why Carbs Are So Important for Recovery. These scientific findings are additions to the ever-growing list of reasons why endurance athletes like triathletes should not restrict carbohydrate intake.

Matthew Kadey, M. Photo: Johnny Zhang. Heading out the door?

: Carbs and sports performance testing

Studies Are (Again) Showing How Badly Athletes Need Carbs – Triathlete consulting mannhart, CH, Wolfhausen, Switzerland. However, it was not the focus of this review to discuss why carbohydrate ingestion in the proximity of a performance bout may or may not help athletes. The trials were separated by a minimum of 6 days. Despite the relatively short duration of the current study's protocol 5—6 min of GXT following 35 min of incremental exercise , the percentage improvement of TTE is comparable with what other studies have reported using and different administration strategies and testing protocols Chryssanthopoulos et al. Carbohydrate intake before and after exercise can help to restore sub-optimal glycogen stores, which is critical for prolonged periods of exercise. Share this article Facebook.
Carbohydrate Nutrition and Skill Performance in Soccer Institute of Food, Nutrition and Health, ETH Zurich, CH, Zurich, Switzerland. Hawley JA, Schabort EJ, Noakes TD, Dennis SC. Contact us Submission enquiries: Access here and click Contact Us General enquiries: info biomedcentral. Mental fatigue can reduce physical capacity, assessed through reduced time to exhaustion and elevated rating of perceived exertion RPE [ 45 ], and has been shown to fluctuate throughout a competitive season [ 46 ]. However, the recommendation to athletes is not to compete in a fasted state because of potentially reduced liver glycogen stores and a subsequent negative effect on performance [ 3 ].
Nutrition for Fitness Testing

home search sitemap store. newsletter facebook X twitter. privacy policy disclaimer copyright. contact author info advertising. watch what you eat before testing day. Any comments, suggestions, or corrections?

Please let us know. Search This Site. In these situations, athletes should choose carbohydrate sources with a high GI for example white bread, white rice, white potatoes in the first half hour or so after exercise.

This should be continued until the normal meal pattern resumes. Since most athletes develop a fluid deficit during exercise, replenishment of fluids post-exercise is also a very important consideration for optimal recovery.

It is recommended that athletes consume 1. Protein is an important part of a training diet and plays a key role in post-exercise recovery and repair. Protein needs are generally met and often exceeded by most athletes who consume sufficient energy in their diet. The amount of protein recommended for sporting people is only slightly higher than that recommended for the general public.

For athletes interested in increasing lean mass or muscle protein synthesis, consumption of a high-quality protein source such as whey protein or milk containing around 20 to 25 g protein in close proximity to exercise for example, within the period immediately to 2 hours after exercise may be beneficial.

As a general approach to achieving optimal protein intakes, it is suggested to space out protein intake fairly evenly over the course of a day, for instance around 25 to 30 g protein every 3 to 5 hours, including as part of regular meals.

There is currently a lack of evidence to show that protein supplements directly improve athletic performance. Therefore, for most athletes, additional protein supplements are unlikely to improve sport performance.

A well-planned diet will meet your vitamin and mineral needs. Supplements will only be of any benefit if your diet is inadequate or you have a diagnosed deficiency, such as an iron or calcium deficiency.

There is no evidence that extra doses of vitamins improve sporting performance. Nutritional supplements can be found in pill, tablet, capsule, powder or liquid form, and cover a broad range of products including:. Before using supplements, you should consider what else you can do to improve your sporting performance — diet, training and lifestyle changes are all more proven and cost effective ways to improve your performance.

Relatively few supplements that claim performance benefits are supported by sound scientific evidence. Use of vitamin and mineral supplements is also potentially dangerous. Supplements should not be taken without the advice of a qualified health professional.

The ethical use of sports supplements is a personal choice by athletes, and it remains controversial. If taking supplements, you are also at risk of committing an anti-doping rule violation no matter what level of sport you play. Dehydration can impair athletic performance and, in extreme cases, may lead to collapse and even death.

Drinking plenty of fluids before, during and after exercise is very important. Fluid intake is particularly important for events lasting more than 60 minutes, of high intensity or in warm conditions. Water is a suitable drink, but sports drinks may be required, especially in endurance events or warm climates.

Sports drinks contain some sodium, which helps absorption. While insufficient hydration is a problem for many athletes, excess hydration may also be potentially dangerous. In rare cases, athletes might consume excessive amounts of fluids that dilute the blood too much, causing a low blood concentration of sodium.

This condition is called hyponatraemia, which can potentially lead to seizures, collapse, coma or even death if not treated appropriately. Consuming fluids at a level of to ml per hour of exercise might be a suitable starting point to avoid dehydration and hyponatraemia, although intake should ideally be customised to individual athletes, considering variable factors such as climate, sweat rates and tolerance.

This page has been produced in consultation with and approved by:. Content on this website is provided for information purposes only. Information about a therapy, service, product or treatment does not in any way endorse or support such therapy, service, product or treatment and is not intended to replace advice from your doctor or other registered health professional.

The information and materials contained on this website are not intended to constitute a comprehensive guide concerning all aspects of the therapy, product or treatment described on the website.

All users are urged to always seek advice from a registered health care professional for diagnosis and answers to their medical questions and to ascertain whether the particular therapy, service, product or treatment described on the website is suitable in their circumstances.

The State of Victoria and the Department of Health shall not bear any liability for reliance by any user on the materials contained on this website. Group 3 included five studies [ 13 , 31 , 37 — 39 ] with nine interventions in total, results of which are summarized in Fig.

Mean power output was significantly more pronounced in participants subjected to a carbohydrate load as compared to placebo [mean difference Group 4 included four studies [ 42 , 45 — 47 ] with four interventions in total.

Meta-analytical data are depicted in Fig. Mean power output turned out to be significantly increased in volunteers following a carbohydrate intervention [mean difference 8.

Concerning subgroup analysis, performance tended to be higher in both studies with an exercise duration greater than 90 min [mean difference Based upon the recent systematic review by Colombani et al.

Due to the in-between heterogeneity of trials with respect to study design, we decided to evaluate only studies choosing cycling as the mode of exercise. Moreover, four groups of carbohydrate interventions with respect to test and performance measurement were classified in order to achieve a better comparability of results.

Taken together, all four groups indicated an improved performance following carbohydrate intervention as compared to placebo with differences being statistically significant in group 1 submaximal exercise followed by a time trial measuring time needed to cover a fixed distance or a fixed set amount of work , group 3 submaximal exercise followed by a time trial measuring power W accomplished within a fixed time or distance , and group 4 time trial measuring power W accomplished within a fixed time or distance , respectively.

These findings seem to be in contrast with studies reporting an improved performance via carbohydrate mouth rinsing [ 10 , 48 — 54 ].

It has been suggested that oral receptors within the mouth and the digestive tract sense carbohydrates and activate brain regions associated with reward and pleasure which may lead to enhanced performance [ 5 , 10 , 48 ]. However, most mouth rinse studies were conducted in a fasted state [ 48 , 50 , 52 , 53 ] or had other limitations such as lack of or improper randomization [ 51 , 54 ] or uncertain time of last ingested meal [ 49 ].

In our systematic review, three studies [ 27 , 33 , 38 ] with an exercise duration less than 90 min could not be included in either groups 2 or group 4. Beelen et al. Likewise, Acker-Hewitt et al.

Therefore, it seems premature to finally evaluate the potential benefit of ingesting carbohydrates in short-term exercises less than 90 min , further trials reflecting realistic conditions are necessary. Subgroup analysis of five trials with a duration time higher than 90 min in group 2 resulted in a trend towards a decreased time needed to cover a fixed distance or a fixed set amount of work.

A similar trend could be observed in group 4, albeit with only two trials included in the subgroup. Taking all results under consideration, a performance benefit through carbohydrates might be possible when exercise duration exceeds 90 min.

Irrespective of specific carbohydrate concentrations, meta-analytical results of both groups 1 and 3 yielded statistically significant benefits for carbohydrate supplementation. In general, this might be due to multiple factors including maintenance of blood glucose [ 55 — 57 ] and high levels of carbohydrate oxidation especially towards the end of exercise [ 58 , 59 ], thus sparing liver glycogen [ 60 — 63 ], as well as a central effect of carbohydrates [ 48 , 52 ].

Therefore, one might speculate an impact of the administered carbohydrate type becoming more effective at higher concentrations.

A high dose of ingested carbohydrates while exercising may cause gastrointestinal discomfort [ 64 ] which subsequently may decrease performance [ 65 ]. The protocol of the present systematic review was designed to summarize the available evidence on the ergogenic effects of carbohydrate supplementation as an expansion of the results by Colombani et al.

Moreover, we decided to categorize trials with respect to types of test and performance measurements. This rigid protocol allows for better comparison between the different trials, it is associated with a number of limitations as well.

First of all, the number of studies suitable for meta-analyses turned out to be rather low. All of the 16 trials providing extractable data for meta-analyses used cycling as their exercise mode. Although this might be another aspect increasing the homogeneity of the results, it is not possible to draw any conclusions for other types of exercise such as running.

Data on the content of the last meal prior to trials suggest heterogeneous pre-exercise carbohydrate intake between studies. Another common limitation of performance studies is the only low to average power with respect to the number of participants ranging between 16 and 32 volunteers in the present meta-analyses.

Since only one trial [ 39 ] enrolled subjects with a mean VO 2max that would classify them as elite endurance athletes, the results are most likely not affected by heterogeneity between baseline capacities of study participants. In addition, with the exception of References [ 29 ] and [ 34 ], all trials were performed with male volunteers hampering transfer of results to female athletes.

Following conversion of absolute values into percentage data, results were widely spread yielding improvements in assessed outcomes between 0. This may serve as a potential indicator for the heterogeneous study designs. Due to lack of sufficient data, it is difficult to extrapolate this result to elite or generally female athletes.

Moreover, further research is needed to gain additional information on exercise durations lower than 90 min and in a wider variety of types of exercise. Rodriguez NR, Di Marco NM, Langley S. American College of Sports Medicine position stand.

Nutrition and athletic performance. Med Sci Sports Exerc. Article PubMed Google Scholar. Burke L, Deakin V. Clinical sports nutrition. McGraw-Hill Medical: Sydney; Google Scholar. Correia-Oliveira CR, Bertuzzi R, Dal'Molin Kiss MAP, Lima-Silva AE. Strategies of dietary carbohydrate manipulation and their effects on performance in cycling time trials.

Sports Med. Ormsbee MJ, Bach CW, Baur DA. Pre-exercise nutrition: the role of macronutrients, modified starches and supplements on metabolism and endurance performance. Article CAS PubMed PubMed Central Google Scholar.

Burke LM, Maughan RJ. The Governor has a sweet tooth - Mouth sensing of nutrients to enhance sports performance. Eur J Sport Sci. Stellingwerff T, Cox GR. Systematic review: Carbohydrate supplementation on exercise performance or capacity of varying durations. Appl Physiol Nutr Metab. Article CAS PubMed Google Scholar.

Vandenbogaerde TJ, Hopkins WG. Effects of acute carbohydrate supplementation on endurance performance: a meta-analysis. Temesi J, Johnson NA, Raymond J, Burdon CA, O'Connor HT. Carbohydrate ingestion during endurance exercise improves performance in adults.

J Nutr. Cermak NM, van Loon LJC. The use of carbohydrates during exercise as an ergogenic aid. de Ataide e Silva T, de Di Cavalcanti Alves Souza ME, Amorim JF, Stathis CG, Leandro CG, Lima-Silva AE. Can carbohydrate mouth rinse improve performance during exercise?

A systematic review. Article Google Scholar. Colombani PC, Mannhart C, Mettler S. Carbohydrates and exercise performance in non-fasted athletes: a systematic review of studies mimicking real-life. Nutr J. Currell K, Jeukendrup AE. Validity, reliability and sensitivity of measures of sporting performance.

Mitchell JB, Costill DL, Houmard JA, Fink WJ, Pascoe DD, Pearson DR. Influence of carbohydrate dosage on exercise performance and glycogen metabolism. J Appl Physiol. CAS PubMed Google Scholar. Jeukendrup A, Brouns F, Wagenmakers AJ, Saris WH.

Carbohydrate-electrolyte feedings improve 1 h time trial cycling performance. Int J Sports Med. Hawley JA, Schabort EJ, Noakes TD, Dennis SC. Carbohydrate-loading and exercise performance. An update.

Carter JM, Jeukendrup AE, Mann CH, Jones DA. The effect of glucose infusion on glucose kinetics during a 1-h time trial. Higgins JPT, Thompson SG. Quantifying heterogeneity in a meta-analysis.

Stat Med. Brockwell SE, Gordon IR. A comparison of statistical methods for meta-analysis. Coggan AR, Coyle EF. Carbohydrate ingestion during prolonged exercise: effects on metabolism and performance.

Exerc Sports Sci Rev. Article CAS Google Scholar. Jeukendrup AE. Carbohydrate intake during exercise and performance. Schubert MM, Astorino TA. A systematic review of the efficacy of ergogenic aids for improving running performance.

J Strength Cond Res. Carbohydrate feeding during exercise. Coombes JSHKL. The effectiveness of commercially available sports drinks. Wallis GA, Wittekind A. Is there a specific role for sucrose in sports and exercise performance?

Int J Sport Nutr Exerc Metab. Burke LM, Hawley JA, Schabort EJ, St Clair Gibson A, Mujika I, Noakes TD. Carbohydrate loading failed to improve km cycling performance in a placebo-controlled trial.

Burke LM, Hawley JA, Angus DJ, Cox GR, Clark SA, Cummings NK, et al. Adaptations to short-term high-fat diet persist during exercise despite high carbohydrate availability. Beelen M, Berghuis J, Bonaparte B, Ballak SB, Jeukendrup AE, van Loon LJC. Carbohydrate mouth rinsing in the fed state: lack of enhancement of time-trial performance.

Rollo I, Williams C. Influence of ingesting a carbohydrate-electrolyte solution before and during a 1-hour run in fed endurance-trained runners. J Sports Sci. McGawley K, Shannon O, Betts J. Ingesting a high-dose carbohydrate solution during the cycle section of a simulated Olympic-distance triathlon improves subsequent run performance.

Clarke ND, Maclaren DPM, Reilly T, Drust B. Carbohydrate ingestion and pre-cooling improves exercise capacity following soccer-specific intermittent exercise performed in the heat.

Eur J Appl Physiol. Ganio MS, Klau JF, Lee EC, Yeargin SW, McDermott BP, Buyckx M. Effect of various carbohydrate-electrolyte fluids on cycling performance and maximal voluntary contraction.

Flynn MG, Michaud TJ, Rodriguez-Zayas J, Lambert CP, Boone JB, Moleski RW. Effects of 4- and 8-h preexercise feedings on substrate use and performance.

el-Sayed MS, Rattu AJ, Roberts I. Effects of carbohydrate feeding before and during prolonged exercise on subsequent maximal exercise performance capacity.

Int J Sport Nutr. Campbell C, Prince D, Braun M, Applegate E, Casazza GA. Carbohydrate-supplement form and exercise performance. Cox AJ, Pyne DB, Cox GR, Callister R, Gleeson M. Pre-exercise carbohydrate status influences carbohydrate-mediated attenuation of post-exercise cytokine responses.

Cox GR, Clark SA, Cox AJ, Halson SL, Hargreaves M, Hawley JA, et al. Daily training with high carbohydrate availability increases exogenous carbohydrate oxidation during endurance cycling.

Hulston CJ, Jeukendrup AE. No placebo effect from carbohydrate intake during prolonged exercise. Acker-Hewitt TL, Shafer BM, Saunders MJ, Goh Q, Luden ND.

Independent and combined effects of carbohydrate and caffeine ingestion on aerobic cycling performance in the fed state. Baur DA, Schroer AB, Luden ND, Womack CJ, Smyth SA, Saunders MJ. Glucose-fructose enhances performance versus isocaloric, but not moderate, glucose.

Langenfeld ME, Seifert JG, Rudge SR, Bucher RJ.

Carbohydrates - The Master Fuel | U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA)

This is handy for the modern athlete because, once you cut through the hype and distraction that exists in most of the sports nutrition market, there are some pretty clear, tried and tested guidelines on how much carb you need to consume in order to optimise your performance over various durations and intensities of exercise.

Your glycogen stores have got you covered for this and they typically just benefit from being topped up with a sufficiently carb-rich recovery meal or snack afterwards to promote rapid recovery; especially if you intend to train or compete again within a short time window.

As duration increases, so too do the potential benefits of exogenous fueling. In this time frame, carbohydrate ingestion will almost certainly significantly improve your performance. For bouts lasting between hours, it can be beneficial to consume ~ grams of simple carbs per hour.

The harder the work and longer the duration within this bracket, the more appropriate it is to push the intake up towards ~60 grams per hour.

This is especially true for athletes who are super fit and therefore able to sustain extremely high level workloads. Certainly beyond two hours, research generally points towards a solid dose-response relationship with higher carb intakes usually eliciting better performance outcomes.

It highlights the fact that racing long distances at a fast pace is as much an eating event as it is an athletic one! An hourly intake of ~90 grams per hour ie.

Significantly, this rate of carb consumption is where there may be some benefit in paying attention to the highest level of our Hierarchy of Fueling Needs pyramid - i.

the source of carbohydrate ingested. MTCs are a fancy way of saying different sources of sugar. All that being said, the key thing to take away from this section is the basic 30 to 60 to 90g per hour concept and how the dose of carbs tends to benefit from being significantly dialled upwards as exercise duration increases.

In our experience, most amateur athletes tend to not consume enough carbohydrate per hour during hard training sessions and races. This is an area where the research is currently playing catch-up with what elite athletes appear to have been doing for some time, and so it probably represents the next area in which our collective understanding will continue to improve.

You can use the calculator to work out how much carbohydrate you're likely to need per hour for the intensity and duration of your chosen activity. As such, the ballpark advice is essentially the same for a 50kg lbs athlete as it is for a 90kg lbs athlete because, for both, the limiting factor in the process is how much carbohydrate they can move through the gut into their bloodstream per minute - and that is very similar no matter their total body size.

Keeping this in mind, evidence suggests that those with a lower body mass can benefit more from relatively high carbohydrate doses than their bigger counterparts.

This is because the relative contribution of exogenous carbohydrate oxidation to total energy expenditure is greater for athletes with lower body mass. So, at the absolute extremes there may be some differences in carbohydrate absorption rates when comparing the very biggest with the very smallest athletes.

There's also a natural level of variation from any athlete to another in terms of what can be absorbed just because no two humans and their gut microbiomes are identical.

But, overall, it appears fair to say that body size is much less of an influential factor in setting carb intake rates than common sense would otherwise suggest. Image Credit: Dale Travers ©. How an athlete chooses to ingest their carbs is a very individual matter and there are many options to choose from - from specific sports fuels like gels , chews , bars, Energy Drink Mix to all sorts of real foods.

Andy Blow is a Sports Scientist with a BSc Honours degree in Sports and Exercise Science from the University of Bath. An expert in hydration, he has co-authored a number of scientific studies and books. Carbohydrate ingestion during endurance exercise improves performance in adults.

J Nutr. Cermak NM, van Loon LJC. The use of carbohydrates during exercise as an ergogenic aid. de Ataide e Silva T, de Di Cavalcanti Alves Souza ME, Amorim JF, Stathis CG, Leandro CG, Lima-Silva AE.

Can carbohydrate mouth rinse improve performance during exercise? A systematic review. Article Google Scholar. Colombani PC, Mannhart C, Mettler S. Carbohydrates and exercise performance in non-fasted athletes: a systematic review of studies mimicking real-life.

Nutr J. Currell K, Jeukendrup AE. Validity, reliability and sensitivity of measures of sporting performance. Mitchell JB, Costill DL, Houmard JA, Fink WJ, Pascoe DD, Pearson DR. Influence of carbohydrate dosage on exercise performance and glycogen metabolism.

J Appl Physiol. CAS PubMed Google Scholar. Jeukendrup A, Brouns F, Wagenmakers AJ, Saris WH. Carbohydrate-electrolyte feedings improve 1 h time trial cycling performance.

Int J Sports Med. Hawley JA, Schabort EJ, Noakes TD, Dennis SC. Carbohydrate-loading and exercise performance. An update. Carter JM, Jeukendrup AE, Mann CH, Jones DA. The effect of glucose infusion on glucose kinetics during a 1-h time trial. Higgins JPT, Thompson SG. Quantifying heterogeneity in a meta-analysis.

Stat Med. Brockwell SE, Gordon IR. A comparison of statistical methods for meta-analysis. Coggan AR, Coyle EF. Carbohydrate ingestion during prolonged exercise: effects on metabolism and performance.

Exerc Sports Sci Rev. Article CAS Google Scholar. Jeukendrup AE. Carbohydrate intake during exercise and performance. Schubert MM, Astorino TA. A systematic review of the efficacy of ergogenic aids for improving running performance. J Strength Cond Res. Carbohydrate feeding during exercise.

Coombes JSHKL. The effectiveness of commercially available sports drinks. Wallis GA, Wittekind A. Is there a specific role for sucrose in sports and exercise performance? Int J Sport Nutr Exerc Metab. Burke LM, Hawley JA, Schabort EJ, St Clair Gibson A, Mujika I, Noakes TD.

Carbohydrate loading failed to improve km cycling performance in a placebo-controlled trial. Burke LM, Hawley JA, Angus DJ, Cox GR, Clark SA, Cummings NK, et al.

Adaptations to short-term high-fat diet persist during exercise despite high carbohydrate availability. Beelen M, Berghuis J, Bonaparte B, Ballak SB, Jeukendrup AE, van Loon LJC. Carbohydrate mouth rinsing in the fed state: lack of enhancement of time-trial performance. Rollo I, Williams C.

Influence of ingesting a carbohydrate-electrolyte solution before and during a 1-hour run in fed endurance-trained runners. J Sports Sci. McGawley K, Shannon O, Betts J. Ingesting a high-dose carbohydrate solution during the cycle section of a simulated Olympic-distance triathlon improves subsequent run performance.

Clarke ND, Maclaren DPM, Reilly T, Drust B. Carbohydrate ingestion and pre-cooling improves exercise capacity following soccer-specific intermittent exercise performed in the heat.

Eur J Appl Physiol. Ganio MS, Klau JF, Lee EC, Yeargin SW, McDermott BP, Buyckx M. Effect of various carbohydrate-electrolyte fluids on cycling performance and maximal voluntary contraction.

Flynn MG, Michaud TJ, Rodriguez-Zayas J, Lambert CP, Boone JB, Moleski RW. Effects of 4- and 8-h preexercise feedings on substrate use and performance. el-Sayed MS, Rattu AJ, Roberts I. Effects of carbohydrate feeding before and during prolonged exercise on subsequent maximal exercise performance capacity.

Int J Sport Nutr. Campbell C, Prince D, Braun M, Applegate E, Casazza GA. Carbohydrate-supplement form and exercise performance.

Cox AJ, Pyne DB, Cox GR, Callister R, Gleeson M. Pre-exercise carbohydrate status influences carbohydrate-mediated attenuation of post-exercise cytokine responses.

Cox GR, Clark SA, Cox AJ, Halson SL, Hargreaves M, Hawley JA, et al. Daily training with high carbohydrate availability increases exogenous carbohydrate oxidation during endurance cycling. Hulston CJ, Jeukendrup AE.

No placebo effect from carbohydrate intake during prolonged exercise. Acker-Hewitt TL, Shafer BM, Saunders MJ, Goh Q, Luden ND. Independent and combined effects of carbohydrate and caffeine ingestion on aerobic cycling performance in the fed state.

Baur DA, Schroer AB, Luden ND, Womack CJ, Smyth SA, Saunders MJ. Glucose-fructose enhances performance versus isocaloric, but not moderate, glucose.

Langenfeld ME, Seifert JG, Rudge SR, Bucher RJ. Effect of carbohydrate ingestion on performance of non-fasted cyclists during a simulated mile time trial. J Sports Med Phys Fitness. Nassif C, Gomes AR, Peixoto GHC, Chagas MH, Soares DD, Silami-Garcia E, et al.

The effect of double--blind carbohydrate ingestion during 60 km of self-paced exercise in warm ambient conditions. PloS One. Article PubMed PubMed Central Google Scholar.

van Essen M, Gibala MJ. Failure of protein to improve time trial performance when added to a sports drink. Jeukendrup AE, Hopkins S, Aragon-Vargas LF, Hulston C.

No effect of carbohydrate feeding on 16 km cycling time trial performance. Angus DJ, Hargreaves M, Dancey J, Febbraio MA. Effect of carbohydrate or carbohydrate plus medium-chain triglyceride ingestion on cycling time trial performance.

Desbrow B, Anderson S, Barrett J, Rao E, Hargreaves M. Carbohydrate-electrolyte feedings and 1 h time trial cycling performance. PubMed Google Scholar. Hunter AM, St Clair Gibson A, Collins M, Lambert M, Noakes TD. Caffeine ingestion does not alter performance during a km cycling time-trial performance.

el-Sayed MS, Balmer J, Rattu AJ. Carbohydrate ingestion improves endurance performance during a 1 h simulated cycling time trial. Chambers ES, Bridge MW, Jones DA.

Carbohydrate sensing in the human mouth: effects on exercise performance and brain activity. J Physiol. Pottier A, Bouckaert J, Gilis W, Roels T, Derave W. Mouth rinse but not ingestion of a carbohydrate solution improves 1-h cycle time trial performance.

Scand J Med Sci Sports. Rollo I, Cole M, Miller R, Williams C. Influence of mouth rinsing a carbohydrate solution on 1-h running performance. Lane SC, Bird SR, Burke LM, Hawley JA. Effect of a carbohydrate mouth rinse on simulated cycling time-trial performance commenced in a fed or fasted state.

Carter JM, Jeukendrup AE, Jones DA. The effect of carbohydrate mouth rinse on 1-h cycle time trial performance. Rollo I, Williams C, Gant N, Nute M. The influence of carbohydrate mouth rinse on self-selected speeds during a min treadmill run.

Sinclair J, Bottoms L, Flynn C, Bradley E, Alexander G, McCullagh S, et al. The effect of different durations of carbohydrate mouth rinse on cycling performance.

Erickson MA, Schwarzkopf RJ, McKenzie RD. Effects of caffeine, fructose, and glucose ingestion on muscle glycogen utilization during exercise. Pirnay F, Crielaard JM, Pallikarakis N, Lacroix M, Mosora F, Krzentowski G, et al.

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Oxidation of combined ingestion of maltodextrins and fructose during exercise. Superior endurance performance with ingestion of multiple transportable carbohydrates.

Download references. This article was supported by the Open Access Publication Fund of the University of Vienna. No other sources of funding to be declared. The datasets supporting the conclusions of this article are included within the article and its additional files.

PCC acquired part of the data up to GH and LS developed the idea for this systematic review, GH prepared the protocol.

Literature search was performed by MP and LS, while data extraction, analyses, and synthesis was done by all authors. GH prepared the first draft of the manuscript. Disagreements were resolved by consensus, all authors read and approved of the final manuscript. All other authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Department of Nutritional Sciences, Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Vienna, Althanstraße 14 UZAII , A, Vienna, Austria. German Institute of Human Nutrition, Arthur-Scheunert-Allee , D, Nuthetal, Germany. Swiss Federal Institute of Sport Magglingen SFISM , CH, Magglingen, Switzerland.

You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar. Correspondence to Georg Hoffmann. Title: File format: tiff TIF kb. TIF kb. Open Access This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.

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Research article Open access Published: 11 July A systematic review and meta-analysis of carbohydrate benefits associated with randomized controlled competition-based performance trials Martin Pöchmüller 1 , Lukas Schwingshackl 2 , Paolo C. Abstract Background Carbohydrate supplements are widely used by athletes as an ergogenic aid before and during sports events.

Methods MEDLINE, EMBASE, and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials were searched systematically up to February Results Twenty-four randomized controlled trials met the objectives and were included in the present systematic review, 16 of which provided data for meta-analyses.

Conclusion Due to the limitations of this systematic review, results can only be applied to a subset of athletes trained male cyclists.

Background Carbohydrates are one of the two main fuels for sport activities and their importance for optimal sport performance both in training and in competition is generally undisputed among experts [ 1 , 2 ].

Methods Search strategy Data of the original search by Colombani et al. Inclusion criteria In accordance to Colombani et al. Exclusion criteria Studies with time-to-exhaustion tests or studies with insufficient methodological information to enable a check of the inclusion criteria were excluded.

Categorization of interventions To yield more homogeneous study designs it was necessary to categorize the studies by defining comparable interventions prior to statistical analysis. Taken together, this resulted in the following classification of groups: Group 1: Submaximal exercise followed by a time trial measuring time needed to cover a fixed distance or a fixed set amount of work; Group 2: Time trial measuring time needed to cover a fixed distance or a fixed set amount of work; Group 3: Submaximal exercise followed by a time trial measuring power W accomplished within a fixed time or distance; Group 4: Time trial measuring power W accomplished within a fixed time or distance.

Statistical analyses Data were analyzed using the Review Manager 5. Results Literature search In the original literature search by Colombani et al. Table 1 General characteristics of randomized controlled trials included in the systematic review Full size table.

Table 2 Characteristics of participants in studies eligible for systematic review Full size table. Full size image. Discussion Based upon the recent systematic review by Colombani et al. Subgroups carbohydrate concentration Irrespective of specific carbohydrate concentrations, meta-analytical results of both groups 1 and 3 yielded statistically significant benefits for carbohydrate supplementation.

Strengths and limitations The protocol of the present systematic review was designed to summarize the available evidence on the ergogenic effects of carbohydrate supplementation as an expansion of the results by Colombani et al.

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Carbs and sports performance testing -

When overall calorie intake does not match calorie output, it can lead to detriments in performance and health, such as a drop in immune and hormone functioning. Recently, research revealed that RED-S is not simply caused by a lack of overall energy, but more precisely by a lack of calories from carbohydrates in the diet.

Published in the journal Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise , 28 elite male race walkers were recruited to complete two, six-day diet and training phases. The first phase was a baseline phase, in which all participants consumed a high-carbohydrate, high-energy-availability diet.

In other words, they ate adequate calories and carbohydrates to support their training. In the second phase, athletes were split into three groups. One group continued to follow a high-carb, high-calorie diet, the other followed a calorie-matched low-carb, higher-fat diet, and the other followed a low-energy-availability diet.

The researchers collected blood samples before and after exercise during both phases to measure immune, inflammatory, and iron markers. The results were telling, and should give hard-charging endurance athletes permission to eat their bread and feel good about it.

RELATED: The Right Way to Calculate Calories Burned in Training. In a concept known as diet periodization, some athletes employ a low-carbohydrate diet during periods of lower-intensity training. The goal with this is to enhance certain metabolic adaptations before switching to a higher carbohydrate diet before a competition to maximize energy stores, thereby improving the potential for better performance.

But being too stingy with your carbs during training could alter the makeup of your gut microbiome , causing a detrimental impact on endurance performance. The objective was to measure any changes in gut microorganism composition.

Enough calories were provided to assure that the athletes were not in a calorie deficit. Importantly, participants were requested to maintain their normal training regimes throughout the study.

Perhaps somewhat predictably, the short-term higher carb diet resulted in greater performance on the endurance tests than did the lower carb, higher protein diet — eating more carbs improved time-trial performance by 6.

But what is interesting is that the drop in performance on the lower carb diet was accompanied by a significantly reduced diversity and altered composition of the gut microbiome among the study participants. The greatest athletic performance during dietary modification was observed in participants with more gut microbial stability and less substantial shifts in community composition.

Those were the people eating more carbs. So one needs to wonder if the performance detriments associated with going low-carb can in part be attributed to the impact this eating style has on the microbiome — less variety of beneficial micro-critters.

The gut microbiota is implicated in host physiological functions, which may impact physical performance outcomes. The increased gut stress following dietary manipulation by athletes may reduce performance by disturbing microbial stasis in the gut. And what is not known is what impact would a longer-term higher protein, lower-carb diet have on the microbiome.

Burelle, Y. Oxidation of an oral [13C]glucose load at rest and prolonged exercise in trained and sedentary subjects. CrossRef Full Text Google Scholar. Burke, L. Carbohydrates for training and competition. Sports Sci. Low carbohydrate, high fat diet impairs exercise economy and negates the performance benefit from intensified training in elite race walkers.

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Clark, I. Dynamics of the power-duration relationship during prolonged endurance exercise and influence of carbohydrate ingestion. Cole, M.

Improved gross efficiency during long duration submaximal cycling following a short-term high carbohydrate diet. The effects of acute carbohydrate and caffeine feeding strategies on cycling efficiency. Costill, D. Carbohydrate nutrition and fatigue. Davison, G. The effects of ingesting a carbohydrate-electrolyte beverage 15 minutes prior to high-intensity exercise performance.

De Pauw, K. Guidelines to classify subject groups in sport-science research. Sports Physiol. di Prampero, P. The energetics of endurance running. Dumke, C. Effect of duration and exogenous carbohydrate on gross efficiency during cycling. Strength Cond. Emhoff, C. Gluconeogenesis and hepatic glycogenolysis during exercise at the lactate threshold.

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Carbohydrate dependence during prolonged, intense endurance exercise. Heck, H. Heigenhauser, G. Effect of glycogen depletion on the ventilatory response to exercise.

Helgerud, J. Maximal oxygen uptake, anaerobic threshold, and running economy in women and men with similar performances level in marathons. Sex differences in performance-matched marathon runners. Hopkins, W. Reliability of power in physical performance tests. Howley, E. Criteria for maximal oxygen uptake: review and commentary.

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Jeukendrup, A. Measurement of substrate oxidation during exercise by means of gas exchange measurements. Joyner, M. Endurance exercise performance: the physiology of champions.

King, D. Effects of exercise and lack of exercise on insulin sensitivity and responsiveness. Langfort, J. The effect of low-carbohydrate diet on the pattern of hormonal changes during incremental, graded exercise in young men. Lee, J. The effect of pre-exercise carbohydrate supplementation on anaerobic exercise performance in adolescent males.

Loe, H. Cardio-respiratory reference data in healthy men and women years: the HUNT 3 fitness study. PLoS ONE 9:e Marmy-Conus, N. Preexercise glucose ingestion and glucose kinetics during exercise.

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Nutrients Midgley, A. Criteria for determination of maximal oxygen uptake: a brief critique and recommendations for future research. Mikulski, T. Influence of body carbohydrate store modification on catecholamine and lactate responses to graded exercise in sedentary and physically active subjects.

PubMed Abstract Google Scholar. Nilsson, L. Liver glycogen in man—the effect of total starvation or a carbohydrate-poor diet followed by carbohydrate refeeding. Noordhof, D. Performance-determining variables in long-distance events: should they be determined from a rested state or after prolonged submaximal exercise?

Pate, R. Physiological basis of the sex difference in cardiorespiratory endurance. Peronnet, F. Table of nonprotein respiratory quotient: an update. Sport Sci. Podolin, D. Plasma catecholamine and lactate response during graded exercise with varied glycogen conditions.

Pollock, M. Submaximal and maximal working capacity of elite distance runners. Part I: cardiorespiratory aspects. Quirion, A. Lactate threshold and onset of blood lactate accumulation during incremental exercise after dietary modifications. Ramos-Jiménez, A. The respiratory exchange ratio is associated with fitness indicators both in trained and untrained men: a possible application for people with reduced exercise tolerance.

Rapoport, B. Metabolic factors limiting performance in marathon runners. Steps of article search and selection are summarized as a flow chart in Fig. Flow diagram of article selection process. Soccer-specific protocol: Clarke et al. Considerable differences with respect to carbohydrate intervention: Burke et al.

Inoperable presentation of data: El-Sayed et al. Two studies were carboloading interventions, one [ 25 ] using a TT as the performance test, the other one [ 26 ] a submaximal exercise followed by a TT.

We found one eligible study [ 27 ] with a mouth-rinse intervention, the remaining 21 studies compared the effect of a carbohydrate-containing drink versus a non-carbohydrate placebo.

In eight of these interventions, the carbohydrate type was not specified with only the total amount of carbohydrate being reported. Most studies used cycling as their exercise mode with three exceptions: Rollo and Williams [ 28 ] measured performance while running a distance within a fixed time using a submaximal exercise followd by a TT, McGawley et al.

Eleven studies used a TT as their performance test with test durations between 26 min to min. Intervention and test modes for all studies are summarized in Tables 1 and 2 , respectively.

All of the 16 studies provided enough information for a quantitative evaluation used cycling as their exercise mode. For reason of a better comparability, these studies were assigned to one of four different groups as described in the Methods section.

Study designs with both time and power outcomes where assigned to all applicable groups. Two articles presented their outcomes as work [ 13 , 31 ], which was converted into power prior to analyses by dividing work by the required time.

Results for group 1 and 3 were subdivided based on the administered carbohydrate concentrations, results for group 2 and 4 were subdivided based on exercise duration.

Two studies tested the advantage of carbohydrates during a running exercise and were not included into one of the four groups because of considerable physiological differences between this and the other types of exercise [ 28 , 29 ]. In addition, the study by Clarke et al. Subjects were male with the exception of two studies [ 29 , 34 ] enrolling both genders.

For each of the four groups, results of both comprehensive as well as subgroup meta-analyses are given in Figs. Please note that classification into subgroups was performed for every group independent of resulting numbers of studies. Effects of carbohydrate interventions as compared to placebo on time required to finish a time trial.

Subgroup analyses show the results for exercise duration shorter than 90 min or longer than 90 min, respectively. Effects of carbohydrate interventions as compared to placebo on mean power output. Group 1 included six studies [ 34 — 39 ] with 13 interventions in total.

Pooled estimates of the effects size for the effects of carbohydrate interventions as compared to placebo on time required to finish a TT are presented in Fig. Group 2 included seven studies [ 40 — 46 ] with seven interventions in total.

Average cycling time was faster in subjects ingesting carbohydrates as compared to placebo, however, without being statistically significant [mean difference 2. Subgroup analysis including only studies with an exercise duration shorter than 90 min revealed a marginally higher average cycling time in the carbohydrate groups [mean difference 0.

Group 3 included five studies [ 13 , 31 , 37 — 39 ] with nine interventions in total, results of which are summarized in Fig. Mean power output was significantly more pronounced in participants subjected to a carbohydrate load as compared to placebo [mean difference Group 4 included four studies [ 42 , 45 — 47 ] with four interventions in total.

Meta-analytical data are depicted in Fig. Mean power output turned out to be significantly increased in volunteers following a carbohydrate intervention [mean difference 8. Concerning subgroup analysis, performance tended to be higher in both studies with an exercise duration greater than 90 min [mean difference Based upon the recent systematic review by Colombani et al.

Due to the in-between heterogeneity of trials with respect to study design, we decided to evaluate only studies choosing cycling as the mode of exercise.

Moreover, four groups of carbohydrate interventions with respect to test and performance measurement were classified in order to achieve a better comparability of results. Taken together, all four groups indicated an improved performance following carbohydrate intervention as compared to placebo with differences being statistically significant in group 1 submaximal exercise followed by a time trial measuring time needed to cover a fixed distance or a fixed set amount of work , group 3 submaximal exercise followed by a time trial measuring power W accomplished within a fixed time or distance , and group 4 time trial measuring power W accomplished within a fixed time or distance , respectively.

These findings seem to be in contrast with studies reporting an improved performance via carbohydrate mouth rinsing [ 10 , 48 — 54 ]. It has been suggested that oral receptors within the mouth and the digestive tract sense carbohydrates and activate brain regions associated with reward and pleasure which may lead to enhanced performance [ 5 , 10 , 48 ].

However, most mouth rinse studies were conducted in a fasted state [ 48 , 50 , 52 , 53 ] or had other limitations such as lack of or improper randomization [ 51 , 54 ] or uncertain time of last ingested meal [ 49 ]. In our systematic review, three studies [ 27 , 33 , 38 ] with an exercise duration less than 90 min could not be included in either groups 2 or group 4.

Beelen et al. Likewise, Acker-Hewitt et al. Therefore, it seems premature to finally evaluate the potential benefit of ingesting carbohydrates in short-term exercises less than 90 min , further trials reflecting realistic conditions are necessary.

Subgroup analysis of five trials with a duration time higher than 90 min in group 2 resulted in a trend towards a decreased time needed to cover a fixed distance or a fixed set amount of work.

A similar trend could be observed in group 4, albeit with only two trials included in the subgroup. Taking all results under consideration, a performance benefit through carbohydrates might be possible when exercise duration exceeds 90 min.

Irrespective of specific carbohydrate concentrations, meta-analytical results of both groups 1 and 3 yielded statistically significant benefits for carbohydrate supplementation. In general, this might be due to multiple factors including maintenance of blood glucose [ 55 — 57 ] and high levels of carbohydrate oxidation especially towards the end of exercise [ 58 , 59 ], thus sparing liver glycogen [ 60 — 63 ], as well as a central effect of carbohydrates [ 48 , 52 ].

Therefore, one might speculate an impact of the administered carbohydrate type becoming more effective at higher concentrations. A high dose of ingested carbohydrates while exercising may cause gastrointestinal discomfort [ 64 ] which subsequently may decrease performance [ 65 ].

The protocol of the present systematic review was designed to summarize the available evidence on the ergogenic effects of carbohydrate supplementation as an expansion of the results by Colombani et al. Moreover, we decided to categorize trials with respect to types of test and performance measurements.

This rigid protocol allows for better comparison between the different trials, it is associated with a number of limitations as well. First of all, the number of studies suitable for meta-analyses turned out to be rather low.

All of the 16 trials providing extractable data for meta-analyses used cycling as their exercise mode. Although this might be another aspect increasing the homogeneity of the results, it is not possible to draw any conclusions for other types of exercise such as running.

Data on the content of the last meal prior to trials suggest heterogeneous pre-exercise carbohydrate intake between studies. Another common limitation of performance studies is the only low to average power with respect to the number of participants ranging between 16 and 32 volunteers in the present meta-analyses.

Since only one trial [ 39 ] enrolled subjects with a mean VO 2max that would classify them as elite endurance athletes, the results are most likely not affected by heterogeneity between baseline capacities of study participants.

In addition, with the exception of References [ 29 ] and [ 34 ], all trials were performed with male volunteers hampering transfer of results to female athletes. Following conversion of absolute values into percentage data, results were widely spread yielding improvements in assessed outcomes between 0.

This may serve as a potential indicator for the heterogeneous study designs. Due to lack of sufficient data, it is difficult to extrapolate this result to elite or generally female athletes. Moreover, further research is needed to gain additional information on exercise durations lower than 90 min and in a wider variety of types of exercise.

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Burke LM, Hawley JA, Angus DJ, Cox GR, Clark SA, Cummings NK, et al. Adaptations to short-term high-fat diet persist during exercise despite high carbohydrate availability. Beelen M, Berghuis J, Bonaparte B, Ballak SB, Jeukendrup AE, van Loon LJC.

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